Railway system.



B. MACE'ADDBN.

RALWAY SYSTEM.

AIPLIOATIQN FILED M2124. 1914.

1,1 33,734. Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

B. MAGFADDBN.

RAILWAY SYSTEM. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1914. l l 3397., Patented, Mar. 30, 1915 G SHEETS-SHEET 2.

B. MAGFADDEN.

RAILWAY SYSTEM. APPLIOATIOH Timm SEPT. 24. 1914.

atenbed ai. 30, i915.

0 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IRQ

rwmvev B. MACFADDBN.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 24. 1914.

- Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

B. MACFADDEN.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1914, 1,1 33,73%D Patented Mar. 3o, 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

I MM

TURA/GY B. MACFADDEN.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLIQATION HLED SEPT. 24, 1914.

1,1 33,734., Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

C C2 62 e2 ez eZ C2 BERNARR MACFADDEN, 0F LONDON, ENGLAND.

Iianrnvvar SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

i vretreated Mar. so, reis.

Application. led September 24, 1914. Serial N o. 863,400.

of my invention consisting in the provision of means whereby passengers may enter a car on the ground floor of the building or the like and be conveyed to another floor, or successively to a series of other floors, around which floor, or each of which floors, the car will be caused to traverse, and finally returned to the ground level.

To enable my invention to be fully undere stood I will describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating an arrangement of the tracks and lifts in connection with a building having live floors. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation illustrating an arrangement of the tracks in conjunction with the-lifts and the electric operating gear. Fig. Bis an elevation showing the lower part of the elerating lifts with a car thereon and with an adjacent portion of the track and one of the contact devices. Fig. 4 is a plan of the same, the car being omitted. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the car. Figs. 6 and 7 are sections on the lines 6 6 and 7-7, Fig. 3, illustrating the arrangement of the safety gear which is used in connection with the lifts. Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating the controlling devices in connection with a car motor. Fig. 9 illustrates diagrammatically an arrangement of multi-stage lift adapted to be used for lifting a. plurality of cars at one movement and for lowering a plurality of cars at the next movement. Fig. 10 illustrates a duplex arrangement of lift' permitting of the raising and lowering of a plurality of cars at the same time. Fig. 11 illustrates diagrammatically an arrangement of multistage lift having several stages less thanthe number' of tracks which it is adapted to serve, and shows the lift in the successive positions to which it may be brought in raising and lowering the cars according to one convenient method.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 8 of the drawing A denotes the ground floor of a building in which the railway system is installed and B,

C, D, E the first.y second, third and fourth iioors thereof.

a, b, c, (l, e indicate the tracks on the floors A, B, C, D, E which tracks would, in the ordinary course, be suspended from the ceil- 'ings by means of suitable hangers; in practice I propose to use the ordinary double rail tracker.

a', b', c', d are the wells for the elevating lifts connecting the adjacent tracks a?, b2, c2

(Z2 indicating the respective lift platforms.

e is the well ofthe return lift and e2 e2' indicate a series of platforms with which, as shown, the return lift is provided.

The wells for the elevating lifts are so constructed that they terminate beneath the ceiling of the story into which the lift rises,l

that is to say, the well of the lift a2 termi'- nates at the ceiling of the second story B and this renders it necessary that each lift platform should be suspended from the sides or bottom instead of from the top and also thatthe safety gear should be arranged underneath the platform, there being insufficient head room to suspend the lift from the top. Such an arrangement of suspension is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 in which f, f indicate the guide rods for the lift and f the guides upon the lift.

g, g are the ropes by means of which the lift is suspended and h, i1, ropes which carry counter-balance weights, notfshown, theseY ropes all passing over suitable pulleys arranged' at the upper end of the well.

g, g', Fig. 2, indicate the pulleys over which the winding ropes g pass, the pulleys over which the counter-balance ropespass not being indicated. The ropes g, g pass beneath the platform around sheaves (/O and are secured to the latter, as shown in Fig. 6, the said ropes being passed around the said sheaves from the opposite ends oftoo j' denotes an electric motor for operating the. drum The sheaves g 'are loosely mounted on a vertical spindle k, and at the lower end of this lspindle is loosely mounted a disk lo for a purpose hereinafter described.

Mounted 'beneath the. lift platform on horizontal pivots Z, adjacent to the guide rods 7', are eccentrics l', Z' to which the ropes l1., l1, for the counter-balance Weights are attached, these eccentrics being so arranged with rela-tion .to the guide rods f that under the tension due to the counter-balance weights they v, have a tendency to move against the guide rods to vgrip the same. Each of these eccentrics Z is provided with `an arm or lever m, the arms or levers of each pair of eccentrics Z being connected to .the two links of a toggle n. The central joint of each toggle n is connected by a rod fn toa pin '11,2 on the disk lc, so that the four toggles in connection with the four sets of eccentrics Z', ll will exert a thrust against the pins n2 on the disk la. This disk lc is normally locked against rotation by .a catch o pivoted tothe platform and engaging a notchon the'said disk, which catch also hangs in contact with cam surfaces o", o on' the sheaves g", go. So long as; the ropes g, gare intact this catch o will remain in engagement with the disk Je. and prevent any rotary movement thereof so that the gripping cams Z, Z will be held out of contact withthe guiderods f. Should, however, veither of thel lifting ropes g, g break, the'part of suchrope. g which iremains intact and connected to the sheave g", will, under thestrain upon it, slightly rotate such sleeve, and owing to such rotation the catch o will be pushedl outward' by one or the other ofthe cam surfaces o and 'thereby be disengaged ,fronrthe disk k whereupon the said kdisk lc which has the strain of the'counter-weight's upon it, will beslightlylrotatedand allow the toggle n, n' to move sufficiently to allow the gripping eccentrics l toy come into vcontact with the guide rods to hold vthe lift against further movement. The .gripping eccenltrlcszl, Z areyadvantA aouslyf:provided with serrated -or rougheniecgl: surfacesrto afford a positive grip in casethey come linto action.'A `The numeralg 1," 2,'.'3,`etc.;f.denote` a'numbe'r' offcars1-wh1ehjare: distributed "over the several railway tracks *and which are de? signed to be successively raised from the.

ground ioor to the first floor, from the first floor to the second floor, and so on to the fourth floor, and then returned to the ground floor. Each of these cars may be of any suitable construction and one of which,

shown in Fig. 3 upon a lift platform, is proj vided with an electric motor p, Fig. 8, in-

g are' arranged upon the lift platforms, as shown 1n Fig. 4, and that conductors Q `are arranged on each track so that when the lift is in its upper and lower positions it will be in circuit with such conductors.

Upon the lift and at predetermined points upon the several tracks are arranged circuit elosing bars t, which for convenience of descriptionl will hereinafter refer to as-treadles and which are operated electrically, as hereinafter described, the function of these treadles being to make or break the circuit of the solenoidsl r on the cars.

When the contacts s, s `on a car are in con` tact with the treadle t, as shown in Fig. 8, theJ current from the conductors g, g will energize the solenoid r and retain the core -in connection therewith in a position in which the arm of the rheostat fr' is out of eircuit, sothat the motor will not be operated. When, however, the treadle t is moved or lowered awayfrom the contacts s, s the solenoid 1" becomes denergized so that the vweight ofthe said core will move the rheo- -stat arm over .the several contacts to throw in the motor to drive the car.

Each of the -treadle bars t, as shown in the drawings, is mounted on rocking links 1%',15 and has combined with it a pair of solenoids u, u' which are wound in opposite direetionsand which1 are respectively con- -nectedto twopositive wires o, e andto a coinmon return wire 02. The two groups of solenoids uand u of'all the treadles on a floor are connected respectively to the wires o and 'u' and these wires together with the. .return wire v2 terminate adjacent to the 'lift in-spring contacts as at o3, while a similar set f contacts fv1 is connected with the supplywires, the positive supply wire, Fig. 4, being-connected to the conductors o, 'v'.

Adjacent tothe point where the positive conductor bifurcates, a branch o5 is vinserted which extends to two stud' contacts fv" on .-thelift in such a manner that as 'a car runs on to the lift a contact arm of'thereon izo bridges the contacts ce, v6 in passing and so allows the positive current to momentarily pass to the conductor o to operate the several solenoids u on the track to move` the treadles t on the track and also the treadle on the lift from the dotted line position in4 Fig. 3 to the full line position to bridge the contacts s, s whereby the car motor will be stopped. The car under its momentum will then continue to move forward until it comes in contact with t-he lift wall by means of ya bilder or stop, not shown, at which point the contact arm -v will be adj acent to two other contacts yw, w, Figs. 3, et and 5 on the lift platform. It may be stated that the solenoids of the several treadles t on a floor are simultaneously supplied with current and that during the time that the lift platform is not between the cont-acts r3, fr* the solenoids of the several treadles will for the time being remain dead.

Each car is provided with gates or doors rv, x, Figs. 3 and 5, which have to be opened and closed to allow passengers to enter and leave the car, and this operation of closing the doors after they have been opened is utilized for completing the lift circuit for starting the lift motor. This is accomplished by the following means, that is to say, the doors ai, a, if two doos are employed, are connected together by double links as shown so that they will open and close simultaneously and one of these doors :c isl provided with an arm or lug as which cooperates with a spring catch in connection with the contact lever c7 in such a manner that on the closing, of the said doors the said arm or projection av by impinging against the catch m2 will move the contact arm 'v7 to momentarily complete the circuit between the studs w, w, a spring 0:13 in connection with the catch rc2 returning the lever @i7 to break the circuit immediately the arm m disengages from the catch .2:2 in passing.

In connection with the lift winding mechanism is a rheostat 3/ which operates in the same manner as the rheostat r hereinbefore described, and aiso a reversing switch comprising two rarms y, y2 arranged in conjunction with a bar ya which is constructed to form the cores of two oppositely wound solenoids y, f. These solenoids y2 y operate to move the switchwhich reverses the motor when thelift platform is in one or the other of its eXtreme positions.

In combination with the Winding drum of the lift I arrange what I term a distance switch, this distance-switcheomprises a contact arm e which is driven by chain gear from the shaft of the winding drum, the chain wheels bearing such ratio to one another that the movement of the lift platform from its lowest to its highest position or y'ice versa will move the said contact arm e from the position in Contact with a contact pieces which serve to bridge the contact 2F, and e4, a respectively. vThe studs ze, w on the lift platform are respectively in electrical connection with the solenoid y* and the return wire, and the solenoid yf is connected to a stud e7 which forms one of a pair of contacts on the upper of the two ioors between which the lift works, the other Contact es of the pair being connected with the return wire.

The operation of the described arrangement of switches and contacts is as follows. When the several parts are in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the current will How from the positive conductor through the solenoid ot' the rheostat y and the arni 2 of the distance switch, the con tacts .2 of the said switch and the coutact e, a, which are bridged by the bar y to the return wire so that the lift will remain inoperative. Immediately, however, by the closing of the car gatesa, the contacts w, 'w are momentarily bridged, as before described, a current from the positive conductor will flow through the solenoid coil 'L1/and this momentary energizing of the coil=g/* will serve to move the bar y to operate the reversing switch from the position shown in full lines in Fig. :2 to the position indicated by the dotted lines. When this takes place the circuit of the solenoid of its weight serves to operate the rheostat arm to switch in the motor; the movement of the bar ya that operates the reversing switch also breaks the circuit between the contacts e, e5 and closes the circuit between the contacts et, 2 so that when, owing to the operation of the motor, the contact arm a comes into Contact with the stud e, the solenoid of the rheostat j/ is again energized so that the rheostat arm is moved to cut out the motor when the lift will come to rest in its uppermost position. v

The return lift, as shown, consists of a series ot cages or platt'orms e? carried between two endless chains running around suitable sprocket wheels or drums which are operated by an electric motor Z. This motor is arranged in conjunction with stopping and starting Lmechanism in such a manner that it can only operate to move the lift when a car has been running on to one platform at lthe upper end of the lift and another car moved olf a platform at the lower end of the lift. For this purpose the stopping and starting mechanism and the electric circuits are arranged follows. The motor Z has combined with it a solellO lift starts to lower'a car the ermOzwhich material designed to enter between the contacts X, X to separate them and the break of circuit in which they are situated.

Adjacent to the receiving platform at the upper end of the return lift are arranged two contacts S which, when a car runs on t'o the said platform, will be bridged by a suitable contact on the car. in the circuit with the contacts S, so that when the latter are bridged, a current will viow from the positive main 'through the solenoid W and lift its core so that the `wedge T enters between ,the contacts X and breaks thecircuit of the rheostat coil Y at this point, while at the same time the current can continue to liow through the said coil to the contacts X-.

Adjacent to the dischargingplatorm on the door A, but outside the lift, are two'contacts R which are designed to be bridged by the contact on the car which bridges the contacts S. The solenoid W' is included in the circuit in which these contacts R are.

placed so that when the said contacts are bridged l(by, the passing movement ofthe bar) thesolenoid W will be energized to lift the cross head V to l.separate the contacts X by means of the ,insulating wedge T.' When the contacts'X, X are both broken in the manner described the coilof the rheostat Y will become dead, so that the .rheostat will operate to switch in the motor Z, the car upon the receiving platform bei tively. As the car 1 passes over the contacts,

inar lowered and the next car 'at lthe lower end being brought into the discharging po.

sition'by the operation of the lift.

ln connection. with the return lift is a distance-switch Q, providedV with severalv pairs of contacts P, P with which the switch arm Ofis designed tosuccessively `make contact. This arrangement of several lpairs of contacts, however, is of no' importance but .is simply used as a most convenient method in iorder to avoid the necessity-for having' to drive the arm 0 .at too great alspeed. during,I cach step movementl of' thelift. The con'- tacts P, P are in the circuitl of :the solenoid ot-'the rheostatYandthe arm is connected to'the positive main conductor, the .contacts P' being in 'the `circuit .ofthe solenoid U. It will thus be seen that when' the return The solenoid W is v X', but .as it has already been broken by the l arm O leaving the contact P the said solenoid is not renergized. lThe movement of the lift will continue until the downward l arm 0 comes into contact with the next c'on-y tact P, whereupon current will be supplied to the solenoid of the rheostat Y through the contacts X, X which have been previously closed, as described, the solenoid being thereby energized to operate the' rheostat to stop the motor Z. In illustrating my invention I have Ish' a number of, cars nenea-ch floor track,'bl1t it will be understood that 'this number will vary according to circumstances, as' the system can be worked 4with a' 'smaller number of cars, for instance, one upon-eachiioor. Where more than onecar `is employed then a seriesof treadles t .will have .to be prvided for stopping' all the carsupo'n a licor,

as shown, at predetermined Ipoints during l the time that the lift is raising a car from one lio'or to another Hoor.

The general operation of the apparatus is as follows: Assuming the lift a2 on the floor A to have just been lowered so that the trea dles have been lowered to break the circuit of the solenoid V1" and start the motor as herenbefore described (and also of any other cars, say the cars 2, 3 yand 4 on the floor A) the car l Will thenrun forward on to the lift a2 and the cars 2, 3, 4 and 5, take the places of the cars 1, 2, 3 and 4 respec# tively while at the same time a car 6 on the upper floor will run on to the return lift, the lcars 7 and 8 on the upper floor 'taking the positions ofthe cars 6` and 7, respecc it causes the raising of the treadles to bridge the contacts a on the several cars and stops the latter from further movement The passengers now enter the car on the lift and when an attendant closes the car doors the contacts w, are bridged, as before described, whereby the motor will be started and raise the lift platform a2 to the floor, B where it'. will` be automatically stopped by the operation of the. distance switch arm .a hereinbefore described. As'- suming the'platform bB which israised from the floor B l"to the ioor C to be-.i'n its lowermost'position, as indicated-in the drawing, the presence. of,l thelift platform a2 will complete the circuit of the treadles t. on the floor B so that 'the said treadles will bey lowered and allow the "car "9 'to enter the lift bf, and the car to take the position of the car 11,

which with the cars 9 and 10 at the same .time will move forward one section or from on to the lift at the same rate as they are` raised from the track a.

' The circuits of the treadles t on the tracks b, c, d are independent of one another and are operated solely by the respective lifts,

but the tracks aon the floor A and the tracks een the oorE .are interconnected in the manner indicatedv so'that when the treadles t of the track a are operated, the treadles on the floor E and on' the lift will be correspondingly operated, so that as a car from the track a runs on to the lift a2 a car from the track e will run on to the Vreturn lift and Vio .a car be discharged from'the lower end of such return lift on to the track 0;.

ated by the lift as shown to remove the arm' when thesaid lift is in line with the track. In lieu of employinga plurality of elevatinglifts each operating inl its own llift well as above described, I may employ an arrangement of multi-stage lifts ysuch as those shown inFigs. 9, l0 and 11.

In accordance with the construction requiring only single lift well, Fig. 9, the well is located more or lesscentra-lly of the building, emporium or the like and the tracks a, b, c, d, e, and a2, b2, c2, d, e for the various floors A, B, C, D, E extend from'bothgsides of the wellthe tracks being arranged so that except that e for the uppermost floor E a car passing on to any trackfrom a lift mayreturn to the point of departure. In this well isdisposed a lift provided with -a number of superposed platforms e2 vor stages suitably one less in number than"v the nu1uber' of tracks to be served, such platforms e2 being disposed at a distance from one another corresponding tothe distance aparto'f the corresponding tracks of the building or the klike so that each platform may be brought into a position opposite a track at onetime. 'With this construction, the lift' need onlybe moved upv and down an amount corresponding to the distance between two tracks and in such upward movement a car on each platformcan be raised to the ltrack above and then passed from its platform on to this track in this position. Cars returning from the track at the same level on the other side of the building may then be passed on to the platform and the lift moved down toits formerv position thereby bringing the returning cars opposite the track lower down, whence they can be passed` on to the respective tracks intended for their reception. Before the next upward movement the cars to be elevated are returned to the platforms intended for them and each car is then raised to the next track, passed olf the lifts, the returning cars bein moved on to the platforms and all are owered simultaneously to the next lower track.

In. another form, Fig. 10, I arrange thev tracks in a manner similar to that above descrlbed and arrange in the lift Well a pair of multi stage lifts preferably connected with one another by a rope or the like passmg over a pulley 1n such manner that one moves up asthe other moves down, these lifts being provided with. a number of super- .Y

posed platforms or stages suitably one less in number than the number of floors in thel building, the platforms or stages being so disposed that each `platformwill come into a position opposite a track at one time. One of these@ lifts X is used as an 'elevating lift and the other Y as a return lift. The cars are supplied to and removed from the tracks for the respective floors of the building/emporium or the like by alternately raising and lowering each lift of the double lift through an amount corresponding to the distance between two tracks. In this way a car on each platform is raised on the upward movement of the elevating lift to the level of the next track and can be passed around the one side of the building while each car loaded on the platforms of the return lift moves down to the next lower track on that side of the building or the like and can be passed around the same.' Each car can-thus pass successively to each floor on one side of the building, pass around the top floor and on the re turn movement can` pass around each floor in the other side of the building. In lieu of f -providingv a lift with suiiicientplatforms that itneed only be raised and lowered by the amount of one'track I may provide a lift with fewer platforms and operate and -load the lift in such manner that the cars can vbe carried to and from all the tracks in the building although such cars need not be. circulated around successivetracks insuccession. .For instance, Fig. 1 1 shows a lift with three st building; and s intowhich the iift'may he brought in operes for use in a ve story ows the successive positionsv f without departing from the nature of such invention.

Having described my invention, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure 'by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A railway system for use in buildings comprising a series of tracks on different floors with cars arranged to travel around such tracks, a series of lift wells each connecting with two tracks, a series of lifts operating within said lift wells for conveying the cars successively from one of said tracks to the other of said tracks, a lift well extending from the uppermost track to the low'erniost track of the building and a lift operating within the said well, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a. railway system for use in buildings for conveying passengers around the floors of said building, the combination with a lift, electrical elevating and lowering mechanism for said lift, tracks on the floors -between which the lift operates, and an electrically propelled car on each track, `of means coperating with said lift for causing the car on the lowermost of said tracks to enter the lift in the lowerincst position of said lift, and for causing the other cars to travel over a portion of track, means for -stopping a car when it has entered the lift,

, forth.

means for causing the closing of doors or the ylike to actuate the lift raising mechanism to raise the lift, and means for actuating the lift lowering mechanism as the car passes off the lift substantially as set 3. In a railway system for use in buildings, the combination'with a lift, electrical elevating and lowering mechanism for said lift, tracks on the floors between which the lift operates, and an electrically propelled car on each track, of means coperatin'g with said lift for causing the car on the lowermost of said tracks to enter the lift in the lowermost position of said lift, and for causing' a portion of track, means for stopping a car when it has entered the lift, means for causing the closing of doors or the like to attuate the lift raising mechanism to raise the lift and means for actuating the lift lowering mechanism as the car passes, ofi' the lift, a, liftwell extending from the uppermost to the lowermost track, a lift withthe other car or cars to travel over in said well and means for controlling the speed of said lift substantially as and for the purpose set forth. i

'-l. A railway system for use in buildings designed for conveying passengers in cars around the floors or certain of the floors of such buildings, the said system comprising a track-on each floor around which a car is to traverse, and a lift for conveying a car from one of such tracks to another of said tracks, contacting means on theI cars, contact devices adapted to coperate with said contacting means, and means for moving said contact devices out of contact with said contacting means substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A railway system for use in building designed for conveying passengers around the iioors or certain of the floors of such buildings, the said system comprising a lift well disposed substantially centrally of the building, a track extending from each side of said lift well on each of the floors of said building around which a car is to traverse, and a lift adapted to operate within said lift well for conveying a car from one track to another, said lift provided with a plurality of stages, said stages disposed apart distances equal to the distances apart of said tracks, said lift serving to raise at a time a plurality of cars from tracksto other tracks and to lower a plurality of cars from tracks to other tracks at a time.

6: A railway system for use in buildings designed for conveying passengers around' the floors or certain of the floors of such building, a track extending from each sidel of said lift well on each of the floors of said building around which acar is to traverse and a lift adapted to operate within said lift well for conveying a car from onetrack to another, saidlift provided with a plus rality of stages, said stages one less in 'number than the number of said tracks, said stages disposed apart distances equal to the distances apart of said tracks, said lift serving to raise at a time a plurality of cars eacli from its track to the next and to lower a plurality of cars each from its trackto the next at a time.'I

7. A railway system for use in buildingsl designed kfor conveying passengers around the oors or certain of .the floors of such buildings, the said system comprising a lift ipo well disposed substantially centrally of the building, a track extending from each sidel of said lift well on each of the floors of said building around which a car is to traverse, and a pair of connected lifts adapted to operatel within said lift well for conveying cars from tracks on one level to tracks on Y another level, said lifts each provided with a plurality of stages, said stages of each lift 1.30

being one less in number than the number In testimony whereof .I have signed my of said tracks, said stages disposed apart name to this specification in the presence of'10 distances equal to the distances apart of two subscribing Witnesses. f said tracks, said lifts serving to raise a plul rality of cars each from its track to the next BERNARR MACFADDEN' at a time and to lower a plurality of cars Witnesses: I from tracks to other tracks at the same H. D. JAMESON,

time.` ALFRED NUTHNG. 

